Alabama Governor Riley Urges Passage of Health Care Incentive
By newsdesk - Posted on January 16th, 2008
January 15, 2008 -- DECATUR – More Alabamians would have health care coverage if small businesses had a financial incentive to offer health insurance to their employees, Alabama Governor Bob Riley told members of the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce Tuesday.
The Governor will be proposing such an incentive plan when the Legislature begins its 2008 session in February.
In addition to promoting greater health care coverage, Governor Riley said his proposal would help encourage further job creation.
“The overwhelming number of new jobs in this state won’t come from huge industrial projects, they will come from small business,” said Governor Riley. “We want people to offer more options to their workers. We want employers to hire more people. The way to do that is to offer some tax relief to the employers. This is not for the mega companies. This is for the local dry cleaner, the local service station owner and other small businesses that may be able to hire one more person. If you can do that the economy will continue to grow and expand.”
Governor Riley’s proposal would offer a tax benefit to both small business owners and their workers. The Governor’s proposal would allow small business employers to deduct twice the amount they pay for health insurance premiums from their state income taxes. Small business workers with incomes up to $50,000 would also be able to deduct twice the amount they pay for health insurance from their individual income taxes.
The tax incentive would apply to employers with 25 or fewer employees, which represent 90 percent of all businesses in Alabama.
Such an idea was recommended in a report released Monday by Alabama Arise. The non-profit advocacy group for the poor said the state should implement financial incentives that encourage small employers to provide health care benefits to their employees.
“This is a smart way to address three problems,” said Governor Riley. “We can make health care more affordable, lower the number of Alabamians who lack health insurance and strengthen our economy by helping our small businesses.”
Source: Alabama Governor
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